Avatar: Legend of Justice
by C. R. Scott
Summary: In a battle against the forces of the mysterious organization calling themselves "The Light", Nightwing finds himself transported to another realm via one of the chaotic spells of Klarion the Witch Boy. It's a world both different and familiar. It's a world of elemental benders, led by a young spiritual leader they call the Avatar. After the end of season 1 of LoK/"Depths" of YJ
1. Chapter 1 The Boy in the Light

_Gotham City, NJ_

_March 31, 23:45 EST_

"Robin! Batgirl! Report!"

"Got a visual of the target, Nightwing. He's headed to… Oh good lord…"

"What Robin?"

"Crime Alley. Klarion's just gone into Crime Alley!"

Nightwing felt his molars grind together at the news. "Don't engage, Robin. Wait for Batgirl and me to get there. Nightwing out."

As soon as his communicator was flipped off, Nightwing growled softly under his breath. "Wrong place, Klarion! You couldn't have picked worse place in Gotham to try and stir up trouble!"

It took mere minutes to reach Robin's position. By the time Nightwing got there, Batgirl was already by their youngest brother-in-arm's side, on a rooftop overlooking the alley. "Is he still there?" he asked.

Robin shrugged. "All I'm sure of is that no one's come in or out of the alley by any normal means. If he's used his magic to go somewhere else, there's no real way for us to track him."

Batgirl looked over at the alley, her arms crossed over her chest. "So either he's there or he isn't." She glanced over at Nightwing. "Is it bad that a part of me hopes that he has gone somewhere else? Sure, it'd be hell to try and track this jerk down again, but the thought of fighting anyone here… Well… This place is sorta like hallowed grounds."

"No sorta about it," Nightwing said. "This place is hallowed grounds. Batman might not be here right now, but if we let someone like Klarion desecrate this place under our watch, then none of us are fit to watch over his city."

Batgirl and Robin nodded in agreement. Then Nightwing pulled out his escrima sticks. "Robin. You keep a lookout up high. Scan the fire escape and windows of the adjacent buildings. If he's inside either of them, you let us know immediately."

"Understood."

"Batgirl… You and I will scout things out at ground level. I'll come in from the north entrance. You'll come in from the south. If everything clears, we three meet in the middle."

"Time to get to work"

The three of them scattered and started investigating the dark, secluded alley from their assigned vantage points. Robin carefully scanned one building before leaping across the rooftops so that he could repeat his scan on the other. Meanwhile, Nightwing and Batgirl took it to street level. The alley was deathly quiet. Even the noises from the street didn't seem to reach the innermost section of Crime Alley.

Some people might've called it the silence of the grave.

It took several minutes, but finally all three of the teenage vigilantes met in the middle at ground level.

"No sign of him anywhere," Batgirl said with a small sigh of relief. "I guess he really did teleport somewhere else from here."

"It's good that he's gone from here, but we can't afford to relax. We need to try and find his trail again before he stirs up any real trouble. Chances are, he's here because of something involving the Light, and nothing they have planned can be good for anyone but themselves." Nightwing sighed himself and rubbed the back of his neck. "Damn, this is gonna be a long night."

Suddenly there was a loud crash and everyone snapped to attention, weapons at the ready and aimed at the source of the noise, a set of fallen metal trash cans. Something caught Robin's eye, and he knelt down to try and get a better look. He relaxed visibly. "It's nothing," he said. "Just a stupid cat."

The animal Robin had seen, that had made the commotion in the trash, stepped delicately out of the shadows that it had been drenched in. As it stepped into the moonlight, its orange fur, red eyes, and jeweled pendant gave its true identity away to Nightwing immediately.

"It's Teekel!" he shouted with alarm as he whirled about to scan the alley again. "Klarion's still here—AUGH!"

Nightwing's cry of pain mingled with similar cries from Batgirl and Robin. Beneath their feet, while they'd been distracted by Klarion's familiar, arcane circles appeared and activated, binding all three vigilante with tendrils of electrified light.

"Well this is a slight disappointment," the dark-haired witch-boy said with a bored air as he slithered out from the shadows on the wall opposite his cat. Teekel daintily walked between the restrained teenagers and leapt onto Klarion's shoulders. "I had hoped to catch four Bats in my web tonight, not just three."

"What do you want, Klarion!" Nightwing choked out, despite the pain. "Why are you here?"

Klarion grinned sharply. "Why isn't it obvious? To play!" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small device. "Anyone know what this is?"

This time, it was Robin who struggled to speak. "It— It's a mother box," he said with a grimace.

"Correct, Baby Bird," Klarion commended. "It was a present from the Light. A brand new shiny toy for a job soon-to-be well done."

"What job?" Batgirl asked through gritted teeth.

"Why, ridding the Light of its resident Bat infestation, of course!" He reached up to scritch his cat beneath her chin. "Teekel said that this place smells special… Like catnip for Bats if you cause mischief here." Then Klarion frowned. "But there's only three of you little Bats. Where is your leader? Where is the daddy Bat?"

Nightwing struggled futilely against his bonds. "Like we'd tell you anything?" Though he made it look like he was struggling to break his restraints, Nightwing's struggles were more to try and activate his Justice League networked communicator. He hit a switch he hoped would send an emergency audio feed straight to the Watchtower. "Make this easy on yourself! Let us go, Klarion!"

Klarion smiled. "You know what. I think I'll do just that. I will make this easy on myself." He aimed the mother box at Nightwing with a grandiose flourish. The other-worldly, New Genesis device surged to life, crackling as Klarion fed his own chaotic energies into it. All three teenagers froze in their struggles and stared in horror at the energy building up at the front of the box.

"I ought to be nice and warn you," Klarion said with false sincerity. "That I really don't know what's going to happen. I've never used a mother box before, and my magic is always so… unpredictable… when it mingles with tech." He chuckled darkly. "It could just teleport you somewhere random? Or maybe it'll just blow you up!"

As Klarion laughed maniacally, Robin and Batgirl were beside themselves with alarm.

"Stop it, Klarion!"

"Let us go!"

"Don't do this!"

The witch boy soaked up the desperate words of the others, then smiled darkly at Nightwing, the whites of his eyes completely engulfed by black. "Bye-bye, birdie."

The last thing Nightwing heard as Klarion fired a weird beam of light at him was his name being screamed by Robin.

Not his codename.

His real name.

Then everything went white.

—-

_Republic City_

_April 1, 00:01 RCT (Republic City Time)_

To Asami Sato, it was hard to believe that it had been nearly a month since the fall of Amon. So much had happened in such a short amount of time. Some of it good, most of it not so much.

At least, not so much good for her.

She'd lost so much over the last several months… Her father… Her boyfriend… Her family's reputation… With the help of Tenzin and Lin Bei Fong, she was able at least to regain her family's fortunes that had been confiscated when her father had been revealed to be an Equalist supporter. However, Asami had always been a smart girl, and she knew that all the money in the world was never going to be able to erase the taint of her father's betrayal from the company name.

Future Industries was ruined.

Like so many other nights, Asami couldn't sleep, and so she found herself driving aimlessly on the practically empty streets of Republic City. She just couldn't find any comfort anymore in the family mansion now that it was so empty. Even though she had an open invitation to stay with Tenzin and his family at Airbender Island, she just couldn't bring herself to stay with them any longer.

Not while Mako lived there.

If it had just been Bolin living there, it would've been alright. Or even just the Avatar. Despite everything, Asami couldn't bring herself to blame Korra for what happened with Mako. Korra, at least, had made it a point to apologize nearly every time their paths crossed for what happened with Mako. Korra, at least, seemed genuinely sorry that Asami had gotten hurt when Mako made his ultimate choice.

Mako, on the other hand, turned into a startled turtle-duck every time he chanced to see Asami on the street. First there'd be a surprised expression. Then he'd tuck his head in, pulling up his collar and his scarf. And finally he'd turn tail and head off in a hurry in the opposite direction.

Asami's eyes narrowed and her leather gloves creaked a little as she tightened her grip on the steering wheel and set her foot down harder on the gas pedal.

_"Mako… You jerk!"_ she thought to herself as she hit her clutch, grabbed her handbrake, let go of the clutch, and hit the gas pedal once more so she could drift around a corner without losing too much speed. As she accelerated down the straightaway, Asami's expression softened, and she sighed. _"Maybe I ought to just leave Republic City… Move somewhere else… I hear Ba Sing Se is nice this time of year… Or perhaps spend a few weeks and relax at Ember Island… Maybe catch a play or two… Drive around the island…"_

Despite herself, a random thought flitted across her mind that brought a small, sardonic smile to her face. _"Heh… Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll run over another future boyfriend with my moped while I'm out there."_

Suddenly, a brilliant flash of white light blinded Asami's vision!

—-

For a solid minute, Nightwing couldn't hear or see anything. His ears felt like they'd been stuffed with cotton, and his vision, while slowly clearing, was still blurry as hell. In the end, it amazed even him when somehow, at the very last minute, he managed to see a strange looking car barreling towards him.

Sheer reflex alone moved the masked vigilante's body before his brain could even register what was going on. As he finally heard the scream of alarm from the woman inside the car, Nightwing was already in midflip. He leapt up and forward towards the car, handsprung off the hood with an audible impact, and flipped himself completely over the speeding vehicle before tucking and rolling back into his feet behind it. Still dizzy from whatever it was that Klarion had done to him, though, as soon as Nightwing stood upright a wave of dizziness overcame him and he sat back down hard onto the street.

The car he'd just flipped over came to a screeching halt, leaving a trail of burning rubber on the pavement in its wake. Its driver leapt out and ran towards Nightwing, though they stopped a few yards behind him.

"Who are you?" a firm woman's voice demanded. "Are you an Equalist? Where did you come from? What was that flash of light just then?"

Nightwing turned around from where he was sitting, and behind his mask his eyes went wide. Standing before him was one of the most beautiful women he'd ever seen, an exotic looking beauty with long dark hair, deep red lips, and skin like porcelain. She also wore a pair of leather goggles over her eyes and a rather wicked looking leather and metal glove that crackled ominously with electricity.

"Wow…" he said simply.

Asami frowned at him. "What?"

"You're gorgeous."

An unexpected blush colored her face, but she steeled her expression. "Don't think a line like that will work on me. Now who are you?"

Nightwing frowned a little as he held his head. "I'm… not sure," he observed as he tried to get to his feet. He wobbled unsteadily, but managed to get completely upright.

Now that he stood at his full height, the woman's defensive posture dropped a little as she took in his full appearance. Dressed in all black with form fitting body armor that left precious little to the imagination, his chest emblazoned with the image of a bird, he certainly wasn't what she was expecting at all in a rogue Equalist sympathizer. Asami pushed her goggles to the top of her head and she looked him over head to toe… twice. "You're… not from around here, are you?"

"I don't know… Where is here?"

"Republic City."

"Never heard of it. At least it doesn't sound familiar." Nightwing tried to pinch the bridge of his nose as a headache started to build right behind his eyes, and was visibly startled to find the mask upon his face. Asami watched with growing curiosity as he hesitantly felt around the edge of the mask before using his gloved hands to pry it gently off his face. When he opened his eyes and looked at Asami, the young woman felt her heart skip a beat and a blush rose to her face.

He was gorgeous! Asami figured he was a looker just from his general body appearance and what she could see of his face, but his eyes… They were so blue, like the eyes of a water bender!

Those eyes suddenly started to roll back in his head a little. He tried to take a step forward to steady himself, but another wave of dizziness sent him nearly falling flat on his face. The only thing that kept him from hitting the ground was the girl as she rushed forward to lend him a hand. Not the menacing electrified one, but the one that smooth and soft with perfectly manicured nails.

"Woah there. You're really out of it, aren't you? Did I hit you?"

"No. I don't think so. Not hurt, just dizzy. Really, really dizzy."

The girl smiled apologetically. "Well, seeing as how I nearly ran you over, I feel kinda responsible for making sure you're really ok."

Nightwing smiled back at her. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

She helped him back to her car. "By the way, my name's Asami."

"You can call me…" He paused to think a moment, then frowned. "I don't know… I can't remember what my name is."

Once he was in the passenger seat, Asami got behind the wheel and placed a comforting hand on his. "Don't worry. I know a really good healer. She was trained by the best."

Asami was graced with another smile that made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. "Thanks, Asami." His eyes then wearily slid closed as Asami started up her car to head towards Air Bender Island.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** _This is a story that started on a whim, inspired by a collection of images posted recently on Tumblr where animated images of Nightwing (Young Justice) and Asami Sato (Avatar: The Legend of Korra) were Photoshopped together. I originally wrote a short drabble starring the two of them and their first meeting. The idea of the pairing and the crossover potential lingers, though. So I'm re-writing my drabble and turning it into the first official chapter. We'll see if it goes anywhere from there…_


	2. Chapter 2 Lost Memories

_Republic City_

_April 1, 01:24 RCT (Republic City Time)_

"Korra. Korra wake up."

"Huh? Whu—?" Bleary-eyed, the Avatar glanced awkwardly at the clock on her nightstand. When she realized the time, she groaned in protest and attempted to roll over in bed, pulling her blankets more tightly over her body. Her attempt to go back to sleep was interrupted by a firm hand shaking her shoulder.

"Korra. Wake up."

She groaned again, this time more loudly, as she reluctantly sat up in her bed. "Tenzin," she whined. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

The weary airbending master sighed. "I know, and if it wasn't important I wouldn't have woken you."

Korra yawned and then used her hands to try and pull her long, loose hair out of her face and into a sloppy ponytail. "So what's up? What's so important that you're dragging me out of bed at this time of night?"

"Asami nearly hit someone with her car."

The Avatar's eyes snapped open in shock. "What? Is everyone alright— Wait? Did you say _nearly_? If she _nearly_ hit someone, then why do you need me? If anyone got hurt, shouldn't they go the hospital first?"

Tenzin worried with his beard, as he normally did when he agitated. "I'm not certain. When Asami called ahead, she said there was something… strange… about the man she nearly hit. She's called Lin as well to meet up with us here. For some reason, she doesn't want to get other officials involved with this." The old man turned to head out of Korra's room. "Finish getting dressed, and meet me at the docks."

Korra nodded as she swung her legs around so she could get out of bed, now fully awake with no desire to return to sleep. "Alright, Tenzin."

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Korra found herself standing on the dock with Tenzin, waiting for the ferry they could see fast approaching the island. Despite her best intentions, she yawned again.

"Korra," Tenzin admonished.

"Aw, c'mon Tenzin! Mornings are already evil, but this… being forced to wake up at this hour… is just plain cruel and unusual."

Tenzin sighed and shook his head, though he couldn't restrain the small smile that played on his lips. It was a comfort to know that despite the fact that Korra was now a fully actualized Avatar, she was still just a normal teenage girl at heart.

They stood there in silence a couple of more minutes as the ferry finally pulled into port. Once the gangplank was lowered, Tenzin nudged Korra, who jerked awake with a start.

"I'm up. I'm up. Did I miss anything?"

"They're here, Korra."

Three people disembarked from the ferry as far as Tenzin could see. Lin and Asami he recognized right off the bat, and between the two of them they helped to support a tall young man, dressed in black, who was clearly not feeling well. As they got closer, Tenzin's eyes widened as he got a good look at how the man was dressed.

"Wow," Korra murmured next to him under her breath. "He's hot."

"Korra!" Tenzin fixed her with a scandalized look, which Korra answered with an eye-roll.

"Hey. Just because I'm in love Mako doesn't mean I've gone blind."

As Asami, Lin, and the stranger approached Tenzin and Korra, the tall young man stumbled briefly and nearly fell to the ground again. Immediately, Korra ran up to help.

"Here, Korra," Lin ordered firmly. "Help Asami get this young man into one of the spare bedrooms in the male quarters. Pick one furthest away from everyone else sleeping there. And be careful. His balance is shot to hell."

"Gotcha, Lin." She smiled at Asami as she tucked herself under the stranger's other arm, taking Lin's place. "Hey Asami."

"Hey Korra."

"Who's your friend here?"

"Don't know."

"No name?"

The stranger lifted his head a little to glance at Korra. "Can't remember."

"Wow… Your eyes are really, really blue. Are you from one of the water tribes?"

"A water what?"

* * *

As the girls walked back to the temple, conversing idly with the newcomer, Lin came to stand next to Tenzin.

"So what do you think, Lin?"

The silver haired woman furrowed her brow. "Asami told me this man just appeared in the middle of the street in a flash of light."

"A flash of light?"

Lin nodded. "And then he vaulted over her car before she could hit him."

"Seriously?"

"I saw the dents on her hood from where his hands landed. Judging from Asami's description of the maneuver as well as his…" Lin cleared her throat a little. "…obvious physical condition, this young man has been highly trained in some form of martial arts."

One of Tenzin's eyebrows went skyward. "Indeed," he muttered. He began to lead the way back towards the temple. "Speaking of which, what is the deal regarding his clothing. I've never seen anything like that before. Solid black with that insignia on his chest. And it looks somewhat armored, but it's so… thin."

"It may look thin, but trust me, he is pretty well armored. I could sense some metal plating here and there," Lin admitted. "But the majority of it is made of some strange, strong material I've never seen before. And then there's this." She unhooked a set of unfamiliar belts that Tenzin hadn't noticed around her waist.

"What's that?"

"Utility belt of some sort. I confiscated it as soon as I met him. It's filled with all manners of devices I've never seen before. There's small metal pellets and vials filled with some unknown liquids. A gun type device of some sort, but with a grappling claw and yards of a very thin metal laced cable instead of ammunition. And about fifteen other small devices I wasn't able to identify." She looked pointedly at Tenzin. "I don't know who this young man is, but the kind of equipment he's carrying makes me think he's some sort of highly trained, one-man infiltration unit."

Tenzin stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Could he be an Equalist sympathizer? One of Amon's old supporters?"

Lin shook her head. "I just don't know. I found nothing on him that would indicate that he has anything against benders. Also, though it might just be the amnesia he seems to be suffering, he doesn't even seem to know what benders are."

* * *

Moving as quietly as they could, Asami and Korra took their companion into the men's quarter. The two girls shared a smile as they both overheard Bolin snore loudly from one of the rooms they passed.

"Should we wake up the boys?" Korra asked.

Asami shook her head quickly in the negative. "No. Let them sleep."

Korra could read between the lines, though. It wasn't that Asami wanted them to sleep. She just didn't want to chance running into Mako. Mentally she berated herself for making such a stupid, thoughtless suggestion. Finally they reached the last room at the end of the hallway.

"Here we go. Let's get you settled down where you can't hurt yourself," Asami said as she and Kora helped Nightwing to the bed.

"Thanks," he said gratefully as he laid himself down. "My head is killing me."

"So what's the deal?" Korra asked as she pulled up a chair next to his bed. "Tenzin said you nearly hit him?"

Asami sighed. "Yeah. Appeared on the street out of nowhere in a flash of light. He jumped over my car, but can't remember anything." She looked at Korra with a pleading expression. "I was hoping maybe you could do some healing with your waterbending."

"Why not just take him to a hospital?"

"Because they would ask too many questions… And I trust you."

Korra nodded solemnly. "Well, I've never tried to waterbend to heal amnesia before, but I'll do the best I can."

Asami smiled. "Thank you, Korra."

Nightwing looked at Korra curiously. "What are you going to do now? What's waterbending?"

Korra looked at him owlishly. "Seriously? You have no idea what waterbending is?"

"None."

She gave him a reassuring smile. "Well… Hopefully that's just the amnesia talking. But I assure you, it won't hurt. Just lay back, close your eyes, and leave everything to me."

* * *

When Tenzin and Lin arrived, Korra was already hard at work using her waterbending to try and heal whatever it was affecting the young man's mind. Asami sat at the foot of the bed, watching intently. The young man in question lay perfectly still as the Avatar worked, his eyes closed, though brow furrowed.

"How's it going?" Tenzin asked?

Korra frowned. "Well… I can sense something definitely got scrambled up here," she said as she moved her fingertips from the left side of Nightwing's forehead to the right. "I think I can fix his vertigo, but the amnesia…" She bit her bottom lip as she closed her eyes and concentrated. "It feels like there's some sort of block right here." She lightly touched a point in the middle of the young man's forehead. Then she pulled back and put the water back into the bowl she'd gotten it from. "So… how do you feel now, stranger?"

Nightwing sat up gingerly. He then slowly attempted to stand up, and this time there was no disturbance in his balance. He stood steady and firm. "Better, definitely better. My head doesn't hurt quite so much, but…" He pinched the bridge of his nose again. "Why can't I remember anything?"

As the others shared a concerned look between themselves, Korra closed her eyes to think for a moment. "I wonder…"

"What, Korra?"

Korra looked back at Tenzin. "Well… I wonder if the block he has in his memory is something I can fix with spiritbending." Her gaze flickered over to Lin. "Like what I've been doing to help the people who had their bending blocked by Amon."

Nightwing sat back down on the bed. "Well, it couldn't hurt to try, could it?"

"Honestly… I don't know," Korra admitted hesitantly. "I've never used spiritbending in this way before. I don't think any Avatar has." She looked at Tenzin.

The old man furrowed his brow. "I believe the final decision is up to you, young man. This is your mind, and this would be an untested technique to try and return your memory. We could just wait to see if your memory returns on its own."

Nightwing's expression grew serious, and he suddenly had a look in his eyes that made him look so much older than his appearance would dictate. "We could… but I have a feeling…" He frowned. "… I feel as if I need to have my memory back as soon as possible. I can't explain why, but it really does feel as if waiting is not an option for me." He looked at Korra with a determined expression. "Do it. Do whatever it takes."

Korra, a somber expression on her own face, nodded. She glanced at Tenzin, Lin, and Asami, and all three of them understood… If anything happened, if anything went wrong, they'd be there to help as best they could. Then Korra stood up and positioned herself right in front of Nightwing. She gently placed the thumb of one hand on the middle point of his forehead, and the thumb of her other on the point above his heart. Then she closed her eyes.

When they suddenly snapped open, her eyes glowed with a brilliant white light!

* * *

_Korra heard screaming—_

—_Everything hurt—-_

"—_Nightwing!"_

"_Dick!—"_

—_boy with black hair and an orange cat pointed a box at her—_

—_girl with long gold hair was stabbed by a black armored, white haired waterbender—_

—_-giving a red and black uniform and a long staff to a twelve-year old boy—-_

— _little brother?_

—_-an impossibly tall man dressed like a bat—-_

— _i love him —_

— _father?_

—_another red and black uniform— _

—_a letter— _

"_R"_

—_-a circus?—-_

—_-no— _

_NO!—- _

_Don't go on the trapeze!_

—_Come back!—- —- Falling! _

_THEY'RE ALL FALLING!_

—_-_

—

* * *

"Korra! KORRA! Wake up! Wake up!"

Korra jerked away with a start and glanced around herself wildly. She was being held tightly by a pair of strong, familiar arms. She looked at the person holding her "Mako? What—? Where—?"

Mako, still dressed in his bed clothes, was looking at her with undisguised worry. "You were screaming," he said gently. "Practically woke up the entire island."

"Screaming?"

"Yeah," said Bolin, who she finally noticed in the doorway, Pabu sitting curled up on his broad shoulders, mirroring his brother's concern on his face. "It was awful. Sounded like someone was being murdered in here."

At the reminder of her visions, Korra snapped her head around to look at the bed. Asami was hovering over the young man she'd been trying to help, who was unconscious and being checked on by Tenzin and Lin. Though his eyes were closed, tears still coursed down his face. He was so still that for a moment Korra's heart clenched with fear.

"Is he—?"

Tenzin breathed a sigh of relief. "He's alive… still breathing." Then the old man looked at Korra with concern. "Are you alright?"

"What happened?"

"You both started speaking as one, and then the screaming started," Asami said in a small voice. "Couldn't understand half of what either of you were saying. You both looked like you were in a lot of pain. We had no choice but to pull you two apart."

Korra's eyes slowly filled with tears, and she held Mako's arms more tightly around her.

"Korra?" Tenzin said with fatherly concern. "What did you see?"

"He's… a good person," she said softly. "A really good person… But he's not from our world…"

"What?"

She looked at Nightwing as Lin set him gently down upon the bed, smoothing his hair from his face.

"He's a good person," Korra insisted. "But he's not from our world." She bowed her head solemnly. "I… don't have the right to speak about anything else I saw. I just can't—"

As she buried her face against Mako's chest, Asami looked at Nightwing once more. "I wonder if he'll remember who he is when he wakes up…"

"…If he wakes up…"


	3. Chapter 3 Stranger in a Strange Land

_Republic City_

_April 4, 07:10 RCT (Republic City Time)_

There was so much light…

That was the first thing Nightwing noticed after waking up. Slowly he sat up in the unfamiliar bed, briefly nothing the fact that he was still wearing his uniform beneath the plain reddish-brown blanket he was lying under before lifting his head to study the room he was in. It was a simple room made of wood and adorned with various wall decorations and furniture of a minimalist asian style. There was also a large window covered only with lightly woven drapes that let in a great deal sunlight and fresh, sweet smelling cool air.

It was nice.

But it was strange.

It made it absolutely clear that he wasn't in Gotham City anymore.

Suddenly there was the sound of a door opening, and reflexively his hand went to his belt, only to find that it wasn't there around his waist.

A teenage boy dressed in green-trimmed clothing with a fuzzy red collar and carrying a bundle of clothing walked in, then froze when he saw Nightwing. Surprise was replaced with a broad, friendly, honest smile.

"Oh hey there! You're finally awake! How're you feeling?"

Nightwing relaxed. "Um… I'm feeling… well fine, I guess. Maybe a little hungry, but otherwise I feel… ok."

Bolin set the clothing down on the dresser by one of the windows. "Well that's not surprising. You've been asleep for over three days. You're probably starving."

"Three days?" Nightwing couldn't mask the surprise in his voice. "I've been asleep for three days?"

"Yeah. The spirit bending stuff Korra did to try and fix your memory took a lot out of both of you. She only just woke up yesterday."

"Spirit bending? Fixing my memory?"

"Hmmm…" Once his arms were free of the clothes, Bolin moved closer and inspected Nightwing with a critical eye. "Well… All I know is that three nights ago you were brought in by our friend Asami because she nearly hit you with her car in downtown Republic City. Then she brought you here cause you seemed sick and couldn't remember who you were. Does that ring any bells?"

Nightwing sat there for a moment and closed his eyes. "It sounds familiar…" Then there was a flash of a memory. A girl's face. He looked up. "This Asami… Is she a girl with long black hair, incredible green eyes, and a face so beautiful it ought to be criminal?"

The guy laughed. "Yeah. That's our Asami." He reached out to Nightwing with an open hand. "By the way, my name's Bolin. And you are?"

Nightwing reached out with a gloved hand and grasped Bolin's. "Well… When I'm in uniform, I'm called Nightwing." Then he blinked, made a realization, and sighed. "But I'm not wearing my mask, am I?"

"Ah, so that is a uniform. We'd been wondering… but a mask? Nope. I haven't seen one on you since they brought you in." Bolin shook Nightwing's hand, but before he could release his grip, the red fuzzy collar of his outfit began to move. To Nightwing's surprise, a cute fuzzy white face with round eyes and a black button nose popped out and stared straight at him.

"Um…"

The red animal that looked like a cross between a ferret and a red panda uncurled itself from around Bolin's neck, ran down his arm, then up Nightwing's arm, and got nearly nose to nose with the startled vigilante.

"Oh!" Bolin grinned. "This is Pabu. Looks like he likes you!"

"Ah… Nice to meet you, Pabu." Nightwing glanced over at Bolin. "What is Pabu?"

The boy looked confused. "He's a fire ferret," Bolin said matter-of-factly.

"What's a fire ferret?"

"You really don't know?"

Nightwing shook his head.

Bolin looked crestfallen as Pabu ran back up his arm and resettled on his shoulders. "Huh… I guess Korra's spirit bending didn't work all the way if you can't remember what a fire ferret is."

"Oh no," Nightwing tried to reassure Bolin. "It's not that. My memory seems to be fine now. It's just… Well… We don't have fire ferrets where I come from."

"Really?" Bolin looked Nightwing over curiously, then smiled again. "Well, you can tell us all about it over breakfast. Oh, but if you want to cleaned up and stuff first, the baths are just down the hall. This is all men's dorms, so you don't have to worry about any girls walking in or anything. And here are some clothes. Asami picked them out. Something about Air Acolyte clothing not suiting your look, whatever that mean. We tried earlier to get you out of some of that weird uniform, to make you more comfortable, but none of us could figure out exactly how to do it."

At that revelation, Nightwing gave Bolin an apologetic look. "Sorry about that. It's a security… measure… It's complicated."

Clearly, Bolin didn't quite understand what Nightwing meant, and Nightwing didn't really know how to explain it to him. Still, Bolin seemed to be one of those sorts with a near unshakable sunny disposition, so he let his confusion roll off his back and returned to the task at hand, which was welcoming the newcomer and helping him get settled in. He moved to the largest window in the room and pushed aside the curtains. "Well, anyway, when you're done getting ready, you can meet the rest of us at the dining hall right over there."

Nightwing walked over to the window and looked out where Bolin was pointing. His eyes widened and he gave a gasp of surprise.

"What's wrong?" Bolin asked.

"Nothing," Nightwing reassured him with a bright smile. "It's just… I didn't know we were on an island. This place is so beautiful!"

Bolin smiled back. "Well, I'm sure Tenzin's kids will be more than happy to give you a tour later." He clapped his hand on Nightwing's shoulder. "We'll see you at breakfast. Oh! And I hope you like vegetables, cause… unfortunately… this place is an all vegetarian temple."

Once Bolin had left his room, Nightwing's smile faded, and a more concerned expression graced his features as he looked back out the window at the completely unfamiliar world.

* * *

"So our guest is finally awake?" Pema asked Bolin as she served him a bowl of rice. Tenzin's family was gathered around one of the largest tables in the dining hall, along with Korra, Asami, and Lin. Mako had left at daybreak to go to his job in the city's power plant and wouldn't be back till late in the afternoon, and Lin had just arrived, right after getting the phone call from Tenzin regarding their strange visitor a little more than an hour ago.

Despite her discomfort with living at the temple with Mako, ever since her encounter with the blue-eyed stranger, Asami had chosen to spend her days and nights there on the island…

…Just to make sure that he was ok.

"How's his memory?" she asked. "Does he remember who he is?"

"Yeah," Bolin said, talking around a chopstick of food. At least he swallowed before speaking adding, "Said his name was Nightwing, which I thought was really kinda odd."

"Nightwing?" Asami echoed. "Sounds mysterious. Is that really his name, Korra?"

Korra ate in silence as the others spoke, though when she was addressed, she lifted her gaze to look at the others. Ever since the night where she tried to spirit bend the stranger's amnesia away… Ever since waking up herself just a day ago, she'd been trying to make sense of the visions she'd seen. Korra knew that they were memories. She had a vague idea of who this stranger was. She knew that _Nightwing_ wasn't the name given to him at birth. Still…

"It is and it isn't," Korra said cryptically as she returned to eating her breakfast. "It's not my place to say one way or the other."

The others looked disappointed at her answer, all except Tenzin who had an idea as to why the Avatar was refusing to reveal anything personal about their mysterious guest. It was an idea that was confirmed with a new, unfamiliar voice broke the short silence.

"Thank you. I appreciate you respecting my privacy… Korra right?"

Nearly everyone at the table jumped a little, startled by the young man's unexpectedly quiet appearance. Nightwing, dressed in a fashionable dark blue suit trimmed with black and silver accents, stood just a couple of yards away from the dining table, right behind where Bolin was seated. No one had heard him come in, not even Lin, who was the only one not visibly surprised at his silent entrance. She merely raised an eyebrow at him.

"Please take a seat," Tenzin said, recovering his composure more quickly than the others and motioning to the lone empty seat cushion at the table. Graciously, the young man took his seat, placing himself between Bolin and Asami as Tenzin made with the introductions.

"My name is Tenzin," he said solemnly. "And I am one of the councilmen here in Republic City." He motioned to Lin. "This is Lin Beifong, the city's chief of police, and…" he motioned to Korra. "…you have already met Avatar Korra, Bolin, and Asami." With one final polite gesture, he motioned to the other end of the table where two young girls, a small boy, and a matronly woman with an infant were seated. The two girls in particular stared openly at Nightwing, though the eldest tried to hide her face behind a book she pretended to read. "This is my wife Pema, and these are my children Jinora, Ikki, Meelo, and Rohan."

Nightwing absorbed all the information, the names, faces, and ranks of those he'd just been introduced to. He bowed his head politely. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you," he said, drawing on his years of experience with introductions at various social events sponsored by his adopted father. "I know, earlier, I told Bolin that my name was _'Nightwing'_. And Korra was correct when she said that it is both my name and isn't. _'Nightwing'_ is the name I use whenever I'm in uniform."

"So what is your real name, young man?" Lin asked, cutting straight to the point.

Earlier, while he showered and prepared for this meeting, he'd thought long and hard about what information he should and shouldn't reveal to his hosts. He'd thought about using an alias for his real name. But then he remembered, all too vividly, the fact that the girl named Korra, with some strange spiritual powers, had gone through some of his memories. It had done its job in clearing up his amnesia, but it had also exposed certain secrets of his to a total stranger.

This had the potential to be a test of his truthfulness, and he couldn't afford to make his hosts any more suspicious of him than they already had to be.

"My name is Richard Grayson," Nightwing said honestly. Korra gave him a surprised look, as if she hadn't expected his revelation. He smiled a little. "But my friends call me _'Dick'_ for short."

"_Dick?"_ Bolin chimed in unexpectedly. All eyes turned to him curiously. "Ok! I'm just a little confused. I can understand _'Bo' _being short for _'Bolin'_ and _'Sami'_ being short for _'Asami'_, but how does one get _'Dick'_ to be short for a name like _'Richard'?_"

Dick stared at Bolin, blinked a few times, then burst out laughing. It was such an unexpectedly happy sound. "Y'know Bolin, I really don't know. I don't think anyone back home does. That's just the way it's always been."

As amused chuckles went around the table, the atmosphere relaxed. An invisible tension that had been hovering around them dissipated. As more food was delivered, along with tea, the conversation began again, only this time was as if they were talking as potential new friends instead of interrogating a potential strange threat.

* * *

Breakfast lasted for about an hour, and the conversations stayed with safe, comfortable topics. How old Dick was… What his family was like… What about his home… Did he have any pets…. In return, Dick asked his own questions about the island and the city that were equally neutral and safe. They were the kinds of things that the kids, Jinora in particular, answered expertly.

After breakfast was over, though, while Pema went to take care of her youngest son and Bolin volunteered to watch the elder three, the rest of them migrated to Tenzin's office where the more serious topics of conversation finally came up.

"It's clear," Lin started. "That you are more than you appear to be, Richard." She motioned to the utility belt that she'd confiscated earlier. "The equipment you have here, in addition to the uniform you were wearing when you arrived indicates that you are a soldier of some sort. So let me speak very plainly." The older woman fixed Dick with a hard, penetrating stare. "Are you a threat to the safety of my city or its people?"

Dick gazed right back at Lin without flinching. "No. I'm not a threat to anyone here."

"Then who are you, really, and why are you here?"

"My name is Richard Grayson, but my name is Nightwing as well. In my world, I'm a peacekeeper. I work with others to protect the innocent from those who would harm them through violence or espionage."

"So you're officer of law?" Tenzin asked.

"Not… exactly," Dick admitted. "My organization, my family, works closely with the law whenever possible. However, there are times when that simply isn't an option and matters have to be taken into our own hands to ensure the peace."

Lin's eyes narrowed. "So you're a vigilante."

Though it was clear Lin had a great deal of distaste for the concept, Dick nodded. "Yes. I am a vigilante."

Asami spoke up next. "I don't understand. If you're a vigilante in a completely different world, then why are you here? How did you get here in the first place?"

"In your memories," Korra said. "I saw a boy with a strange orange cat, pointing a weird glowing box at you. Is he the reason you're here?"

Dick's face grew somber. "His name is Klarion, and he's an extremely dangerous enemy we have in my world."

Korra looked skeptical. "But he's just a boy, younger than any of us here."

"His appearance is an illusion. Klarion is chaos personified." Dick grimaced. "His powers are dangerous, and he delights in using them to inflict pain and suffering on others." He sighed. "That box you saw is called a mother box. It's an extremely advanced hi-tech device used to teleport beings between other worlds instantly."

It was now Lin's turn to look skeptical. "That's impossible," she insisted. "So you're saying there are things out there in your world that can immediately send someone from one location to another location miles away?"

"More than miles."

"That's ludicrous!"

"That's the truth!"

"He's telling you the truth, Lin," Korra said firmly. "I know it's hard to believe, but I've seen it in his memories. It is as he says."

Lin regarded Dick with stern, stoic contemplation. "Well, now that your mind is healed and you're able to move about, why don't you just use that magic box and go back to your own world?

For the first time in front of those people, Dick revealed a stricken expression. He slumped in his seat dejectedly and bowed his head. "I… can't."

Asami knelt in front of him, a concerned expression on her face. "Why not?"

"Because… I don't have a mother box. I don't have any way to get home."


	4. Chapter 4 Silver Lining

_Republic City_

_April 4, 12:04 RCT (Republic City Time)_

"Jinora! Ikki!"

"Yes Asami?"

"Have either of you seen Dick?"

The two small airbender girls shared a sad frown. It was Jinora who spoke up, clutching her closed book to her chest. "He's up on the ridge over there overlooking the beach. He's been sitting there all alone for hours."

"Have you two girls been spying on him?"

"Not just us!" Ikki chimed in. "We're taking turns with Bolin and Meelo!" The younger of the sisters pointed at a clump of nearby bushes several yards away.

Asami sighed, thanked the girls, and went to the bushes. She stood there a second before deciding to get on her hands and knees and crawling to where the boys were sitting.

"Oh, hi there Asami," Meelo greeted without his usual exuberance before turning his attention back to the ridge. Bolin nodded at Asami and scooted over to give her a space to sit.

"How's he doing?" she asked.

"Really bummed out," Bolin said. "Ever since he got out of that meeting you guys had with him in Tenzin's office."

Asami frowned. "I feel really awful for him. I don't think it even hit him until that meeting that there's no real way for us to help him get home."

"Are you sure there's nothing we can do? Not even with Korra's Avatar mojo?"

She shook her head. "Seems that way." She sighed. "It must be so hard… Remember breakfast and how he talked about his friends and family back home?"

Bolin cast his eyes downward. "I don't know what I would do if I lost Mako like that…" Then he glanced at Asami. "…Or any of you guys. You're the best friends I've ever had."

"Asami?"

"Yes Meelo?"

"Can we do something for him? To make him feel better?"

Suddenly Ikki shoved her head into the bush, right next to her brother. "Yeah! Can we?"

Jinora stayed outside the bushes, but her voice carried through the leaves and branches just fine. "He might appreciate a distraction to take his mind off of his worries, and to let him know that even though he's new here, he's not alone."

Asami and Bolin shared a look, then smiled.

* * *

Up on that ridge, overlooking the beach, Dick sat beneath a tree with a depressed expression on his face. On his left wrist was the palm-top computer from his gauntlet. He'd removed it from his armored glove and put it on like a watch, hiding it under his long sleeves. Now, though, he was pressing a sequence of buttons for the umpteenth time since he left Tenzin's office.

A small blue ringed screen appeared to hover over his wrist, and Dick spoke into it.

"Nightwing to Watchtower. Nightwing to Watchtower. Come in Watchtower. This is Nightwing."

There was a moment of silence, then two words appeared on the virtual screen.

"—-NO SIGNAL—-"

Without hesitation, Dick punched another button.

"Nightwing to Mt. Justice. Nightwing to Mt. Justice. Come in Mt. Justice. This is Nightwing. Come in."

"—-NO SIGNAL—-"

Dick sighed, then tried to reach both Barbara and Tim at their personal comm signals, with the same result. Finally, with painful reluctance, he punched in one last code into the communicator. It was the one number he'd avoided contacting all morning, but had no choice now.

"Alfred… Alfred, it's Dick. Please… Please come in, Alfred. I need you. Please… Please come in…."

"—-NO SIGNAL—-"

Dick bowed his head. Then he pulled up knees and wrapped his arms around his legs. He stared at the water surrounding the island. "Tim…" he murmured softly under his breath. "Barbara… Alfred…." He closed his eyes and rested his head on his arms. "…Bruce."

The sound of crunching leaves and snapping twigs caught his ears. Dick lifted his head just enough to make sure he was hearing someone approaching, then turned off his computer. As soon as the virtual screen winked out of existence he pulled his sleeve back over the thick black band.

The scent of expensive perfume wafting through the air told him exactly who was coming up the path.

"Hey there, Dick," Asami greeted once she felt she was close enough for him to hear her, not realizing that he'd known she was approaching for over twice that distance.

"Hi Asami," he greeted back politely as he lifted his head from his arms, though he couldn't seem to find the motivation to put on even a hint of a smile.

The dark haired woman came up closer, a kind, sympathetic expression on her face. "How are you feeling?"

Dick shrugged. "About as well as can be expected in a situation like this."

"So pretty lousy?"

Dick managed a weak shadow of a grin and tapped the tip of his nose with his pointer finger. When Asami just looked at him in confusion, he chuckled a little. "Right on the nose," he explained patiently while repeating the gesture. "It's an idiom from my world. It means precisely correct."

"Oh. That's an unusual saying. Clever, but unusual."

"Heh… It was probably invented by the same guy who thought Dick would be a good nickname for Richard."

Asami smiled warmly at him. "Hey… Do you think you might be feeling up for a little walk?"

"Hmm?"

She inclined her head back down the path she came from. "The kids noticed you were all alone up here and pretty miserable after the meeting with their dad. They were hoping to cheer you up a little by taking you on a tour of the island."

Dick glanced back down the path. He wasn't looking for them before, but now that he knew they were watching, he could see three small faces hiding within a bush well out of range of his hearing. His expression softened. Kids could be so sweet sometimes. "That sounds like a wonderful idea," he told Asami with a nod before rising to his feet. "I need to stop brooding anyways." Dick stretched his arms high over his head, and relished the feeling of several vertebrae in his neck and spine popping back into place. "I was raised by a master brooder, and he was a very bad influence in that respect. If I'm not careful, I could be up on this ridge till sunset and not even realize it."

* * *

It was practically impossible to remain in a depressive brooding mood with three charming and high energy children excitedly showing off their amazing home. There were so many new things to see on the island that Dick was able to put his more immediate problems out of his mind for the time being.

"How… is that even humanly possibly?" Dick said in amazement as he watched the six-legged massive white bisons soaring right over his head.

"It's not humanly possible. They're flying bison, so it's bisonly possible," Ikki said matter of factly.

"I gathered as much," Dick remarked, still in a fair bit of awe, but unable to resist grinning at Ikki's word play. "But how are they flying? They don't have any wings, and they definitely land as if they have a lot of weight behind them. Is it magic? Some superpower?"

"It's airbending."

Dick looked at Jinora, then at the others as well. "Y'know, I've heard these bending words here and there, and I'm still not entirely sure what it means. I've heard of waterbending, spiritbending, and airbending so far. What does that all mean?"

"There's also earthbending and firebending too," Bolin added in an attempt to be helpful, but only succeeded in adding to Dick's confusion. Jinora, thankfully, took it upon herself to explain.

"It's all about bending the elements," she said. "Here in our world, certain people are born with the ability to manipulate the four natural elements to their will. Fire, water, earth, and air." Jinora set down her book. "Our father and the three of us are all airbenders." The eldest daughter of Tenzin made a sweeping circular motion with her arms and sent a controlled gust of wind straight at Dick. Ikki immediately showed off by creating a sphere of air and suspending herself on top of it. Meelo tried to one up his sister by creating a similar sphere of air and zooming around the others while sitting on top of it. However, he wasn't quite able to react quickly enough to avoid a grazing bison and ended up crashing right into its thick furry side. Jinora facepalmed in embarrassment while everyone else laughed.

Dick took it upon himself to go and check on the boy who was still lying on the ground, staring up at the sky. "Are you alright, Meelo?" he asked, amusement still lighting up his eyes.

Meelo reached up with one hand and gave him a thumbs up. Laughing once more, Dick helped the small boy off the ground, then lifted him up and sat him on his broad shoulders. Meelo delighted in suddenly being taller than anyone else there.

"Yeah… And I'm an earthbender," Bolin said. He stomped the ground hard, and immediately a sizable pillar of earth rose up in front of him. Then he made a motion and the pillar flattened itself back down again.

Dick was definitely impressed. "That's amazing." Then he looked at Asami. "So what kind of bender are you?"

Asami cast her eyes uncomfortably downward. "I'm not," she said with a shrug. "No bending in my family whatsoever. Just a plain old boring ordinary person over here."

With Meelo still on his shoulders, Dick went over to Asami and gently caught her chin with his hand. "Hey… Don't talk like that," he said with a reassuring smile once he caught her gaze. "I've only just met you, and I can already tell there's nothing plain, old, boring, or ordinary about you."

Asami felt her face grow warm, and she pulled her chin away from Dick's touch while lifting her hand to tuck a suddenly errant lock of hair behind her ear. "You certainly know how to make a girl feel good about herself."

"Hey, it's part of my charm." Dick turned to the other girls, both of whom were practically swooning as they watched the exchange between him and Asami. "So who can tell me about the other bending elements?"

Ikki's hand shot up quickly. Then she rushed forward to grab Dick's free hand and pull him along the path. "Oh! I can tell you all about waterbending. Our grandma Katara's the best waterbender in the whole wide world! She lives down in the South Pole with the Southern Water Tribe!"

"Really? We have a South Pole in my world. It's in a continent called Antarctica, and it's covered in ice and snow all year round."

Jinora's eyes lit up with interest. "That sounds just like the South Pole we have!" She dashed forward to keep up with Dick and her siblings. "Does your South Pole have half a year of mostly daylight, and half a year of mostly nighttime too?"

"As a matter of fact…"

As the airbender children peppered Dick with questions and answers, Asami and Bolin watched from afar. "Wow.. With lines like that, Dick must be some sort of lady-killer back in his world," Bolin remarked.

Asami watched Dick smile and laugh with the children, and she sighed. "Yeah… He seems like a really nice, sincere, fun guy."

Bolin looked over at his friend. "Y'know Asami…"

She shook her head. "No, Bolin."

"Why not? He's here and unattached… And you're here and unattached…"

"He may be unattached here, but he may have a girlfriend, or at least someone he really likes back home." She looked at Bolin sadly. "I don't want to end up being _the other woman_ again." Asami took a deep breath, let it out slowly. Then nodded to herself and managed a small smile. "Better just to be friends. No need to make things more complicated than that."

The earthbender nodded with an understanding expression. "I hear ya, Asami." Then he slung his arm across her shoulder. "C'mon! Let's catch up with the kids before they kidnap him altogether!"

* * *

The rest of the afternoon went by better than anyone could've expected. Dick's spirits were lifted considerably, and through the course of learning more about the island and about the new world he was in, a spark of curiosity had been lit up, which in turn created a spark of hope.

Dick heard a knocking at the door to his room. "Come in," he said, not lifting his eyes from the book he was reading.

"Hello Richard," Tenzin said as he walked in and closed the door behind him. "I came to see how you were doing."

The young man pulled himself out of the book. "I'm doing… better now," he said thoughtfully. "I learned a lot from your kids today, and from Asami and Bolin."

"I heard you all had a busy afternoon," the old airbender remarked with a smile. He noticed that Dick had a stack of Jinora's history, geography, and nature books sitting on his nightstand. "So what did you learn today?"

Dick closed the the book and tapped the cover idly. "This world and my world may have a lot of differences, but there's a lot of similarity too. People here look physically the same as people from my world. I can't believe it took me all afternoon to realize that we both speak and write the same language. The animal life here seems strange to me, but that's mostly because everything looks like a combination of two or more animals from my world. Oh, and don't even get me started on the technology and culture."

Tenzin stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Why is that?"

"Well…" Dick tried to find a good, simple way to explain it. "My world is definitely more advanced in technology and stuff than yours here. However! All the stuff you have going for you all right now, is where my world was about a hundred years ago! Automobiles… Radio… Those airships I see out the window sometimes over the city!" Clearly the young man was excited by the discoveries he'd made, and it was an infection sentiment.

"It sounds like a fascinating discovery," Tenzin remarked.

Dick got up and moved to the window, where he sat on the ledge and looked out towards Republic City. "This world is fascinating," he said. "And I decided that I was stupid to let myself get all depressed earlier when I thought I couldn't go home. It's way too early for me to give up! There's a whole big world out here that needs to be explored and investigated. My way home might be waiting for me out there somewhere, and no one knows it yet, cause they don't know what to look for. I don't even know what I'm looking for." Then he smiled. "But I'll know it when I find it."

"You are a refreshingly optimistic young man, Richard."

Dick chuckled. "I've always prided myself on being a _glass half full_ kinda guy."

Tenzin moved to open the door. "Oh, I almost forgot. It's dinnertime. Would you like to join us? Mako has returned from work, and he has been wanting to meet you."

"Sure! Sounds great!" Dick set his book down and stood up to follow Tenzin back to the dining hall.

* * *

_Location Unknown_

_April 4, 22:37 RCT (Republic City Time)_

In another part of the world, far from the hustle and bustle of Republic City, a slender man with a long thin mustache walked down a dark narrow hallway. He knocked on the door at the end of the hall.

"Enter."

The man walked in and closed the door behind him. He knelt respectfully before the large desk where a shadowy figure sat waiting.

"Report, Lieutenant," a hollow female voice ordered firmly.

"It is finally confirmed," Lieutenant said grimly as he reached inside his jacket and pulled out a familiar white mask. "Amon… That treacherous bloodbender… is dead." He set the mask face up on the floor in front of him. "All the work we put into the Equalist movement in Republic City has been undone." Lieutenant bent himself further forward, so that his forehead was practically touching the ground. "The mission has failed."

"Nonsense."

Though the Lieutenant's eyes snapped open in surprise, he knew better than to lift his head. He stayed perfectly still as he listened to the chair behind the desk push back, and the sound of footsteps and cane taps came closer and closer to him. They stopped right beside his head.

"Did you think I did not know about Amon being bloodbender?"

"Sir?"

"Did he, for even one moment, ever give any indication that he was faithless to our cause?"

"No, but—"

"Before he was revealed, did Amon ever use his waterbending for his own personal gain? Did he ever show sympathies or weakness of resolve towards waterbenders of any kind?"

"Never."

"THEN DO NOT INSULT HIS MEMORY IN MY PRESENCE!" The metal tipped black cane came down hard on Amon's mask, shattering it completely. Lieutenant flinched reflexively as shards of the ceramic mask struck his head. He relaxed marginally as he heard the footsteps and cane move back toward the desk.

"When I met Amon, he had sworn to forsake his bending heritage. He hated being waterbender. Hated all benders for how they used and abused their powers against those weaker than them. I was the one who persuaded him to use his bloodbending abilities to help cleanse the world of that which we both hated. He was an incredible weapon… A good solider."

Finally, at the calmer tone of the woman's voice, Lieutenant felt safe to cautiously lift his head. From his kneeling position, he respectfully gazed upon the hooded feminine figure sitting on the desk, watching him from behind her own white mask, the coloring on it resembling the facepaint once worn by Avatar Kyoshi in ancient times. Her ornate black and metal cane rested on her lap, atop her crossed legs.

"The battle for control over Republic City might have been lost, but the war against benders is far from over."

* * *

_**Author's Notes: **After the heaviness of the last few chapters, the story felt due for a lift of spirits. Besides, it's never good to let Dick Grayson be depressed for too long. That's just cruel and unusual. I also wanted to add in a little plot twist at the end for future storylines… I hope my readers like it._


End file.
